Team Jesus!

January 31, 2022 Monday Message

John 15:6 NLT, Jesus speaking: “When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.”

If you’re enthralled with who Jesus is and what he has done, the appropriate response would be to help out with growing his Kingdom. If you’re ‘taken’ with the Messiah, you should want to be a part of his action!

Pastor Rick Warren wrote in the Purpose Driven Life that a non-serving Christian is a contradiction. We should more than just believe in Jesus. True believers sign up for the “Jesus Team!” The Intelligent Designer has equipped each of us with unique gifts and talents. Therefore there’s a place for everyone to serve in the Kingdom organization.

Don’t think that your efforts will go unnoticed. Jesus says that a fruitful Kingdom brings glory to the Father, and that pleases him. You’ll have a twinkle in your eye and joy in your heart, and so will the Father! You’ll be filled with love for the Lord, and receive assurance of salvation! You’ll have eternal hope!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

Glorified!

For Sunday, January 30, 2022

1 Cor. 15:43 NLT: “Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.”

Mankind is destined to die once, and then it’s up to God. There’s the judgment, but believers know that Jesus has taken away our sin, so he has that covered. Believers are on their way to paradise!

When we die, we may be sick, decrepit and full of angry, sinful thoughts. We surely don’t want that body resurrected! God has a better plan – a new, glorified body, something suitable for the next reality! We don’t know exactly how that will look, but let me assure you that the resurrected body will be far better than the one what went into the grave. God knows what he’s doing!

See – we have hope!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

Unfailing Love!

For Saturday, January 29, 2022

Psalm 89:2 NLT: “Lord, your unfailing love will last forever. Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.”

God does not grow weary with loving mankind. Knowing that God’s ‘chesed,’ his everlasting lovingkindness is a forever promise gives us hope, even when life presents its challenges.

Jesus said that we’ll experience tribulation in this life, but to rejoice because he has overcome the world! And Jesus, his Father in heaven and the Holy Spirit created everything including mankind. God saw that it was “very good,” and he’s not about to change his mind!

Never give up on the Lord - He won’t give up on you!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

Victorious!

For Friday, January 28, 2022

1 Cor. 15:20 NLT: “In fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.”

Mankind had two very large problems: sin and death. Jesus solved both problems through his death and resurrection.

We know that Jesus took the sins of the world to the grave in the great exchange. He covered himself in our sins, and clothed believers in garments of white, pure and clean, prepared to enter the presence of God.

And on the third day, Jesus was resurrected, raised from the dead, no longer in the grave. Paul reports that over 500 believers can attest to this fact. Our ‘take-away’ from this is knowing that there can be life after this life – Jesus proved it! Knowing that death is not the end gives us hope.

If you too want to conquer sin and death, Jesus is the answer!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

What We Need To Know!

For Thursday, January 27, 2022

1 Cor. 15:3 NLT: “I, Paul, passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said.”

John said it would be impossible to document every little thing about the life of Jesus. The resulting book would be far too large! So he freely admits that his Gospel is key points, essential principles, a “best of” book about Jesus.

I’ve often wondered the extent of what Paul was shown when he was struck blind on the road to Damascus. Here he admits that there may be more, but that he’s sharing only the most important things, a summary of what we need to know. We call these pillars of faith “redeeming ordinances.” It’s what we need to know to be saved. It’s “hope” in a short paragraph!

Christianity is pretty simple: Everyone has sinned at some point in their life; there’s a price for that sin; and Jesus himself stepped up to pay that penalty. Because of his work on the cross, believers get to see heaven from the inside, and that’s a promise straight from the Bible!

Your Redeemer’s name is Jesus!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

One God, Real!

For Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Psalm 77:13 NLT: “O God, your ways are holy. Is there any god as mighty as you?”

One more thing…

3k years ago, pre-Jesus, groups of people – families, cities, nations – would choose ‘their’ god to worship, most notably Baal or Moloch. These gods are fictional characters, and worshiping them accomplished nothing. The biggest downside would be human sacrifice. The Hebrew nation worshiped Yahweh, the one true God.

Post-Jesus, we know that there really are no other Gods. Our one God is known to us in 3 forms: our Father in heaven, Jesus who walked on earth with mankind, and the Holy Spirit who continues to be our advocate. Eliminating the fictitious gods leaves our hope pinned securely on the only God who is real. There are no others.

Remember, Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

God is Good!

For Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Psalm 77:13 NLT: “O God, your ways are holy. Is there any god as mighty as you?”

I believe that every word in the Bible is accurate, but sometimes not true. Psalm 77 is one of those times. This psalmist feels that God has abandoned him, has turned his back. I believe the psalmist is depressed, and truly feels that way. But it’s simply not true that God would leave a person in their time of need. That doesn’t fit the character of God, the God-trend!

By v13, the writer’s tone has changed to acknowledging the goodness of God. Turns out God is good, all the time.

Faith in God fills us with hope.

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

Ask, Seek, Knock!

January 24, 2022 Monday Message

Matthew 7:7 Phillips: “Ask and it will be given to you. Search and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened for you. The one who asks will always receive; the one who is searching will always find, and the door is opened to the man who knocks.”

A well-known song asks the question, “Who can I turn to?” Jesus is giving us the answer. When life presents its problems (and it will...), our first call should be to the Lord. Jesus says that if we ask we will receive. If we seek we will find. If we knock, heaven’s door will open. God is not playing a shell game with us, being difficult to find. God is permanently available to give us hope when we need it most. Mankind just needs to remember to turn to Him!

Mankind’s tendency is to say, “I’ve got this. I think I can solve the problem. Whatever’s wrong, I can handle it myself.” That’s trying to stay in the driver’s seat when it’s time to give God a turn! Turning to the Lord should be our first move, not our last resort!

Say this with me: “God is God, and I am not!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

One Nation, Under God!

For Sunday, January 23, 2022

Psalm 80:3 NLT: “Turn us again to yourself, O God. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved.”

If you could graph the Hebrew people’s relationship with the Lord, it would look like a roller-coaster – up and down, up and down, closer to God, farther from God, over and over again. Things would get really bad – perhaps their country would even be taken over by the Assyrians or the Babylonians.

And in the midst of floundering, someone would finally say, “We need help. We can’t do this alone. We need to turn back to the Lord!” And when they did, our loving, forgiving God would come to their rescue, and the country, the people and the religion would get back on track.

Each of us, and our country as a whole, should learn from Israel’s past mistakes. When we’re closer to God, things go better. When we’re closer to God, we have hope.

At church today, pray that the Lord would be restored to a position of prominence in our nation!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

Eternal Wisdom!

For Saturday, January 22, 2022

Ecclesiastes 2:23 NLT, words of Solomon, the teacher: “Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness.”

In the short term, the earth doesn’t change much. The sun rises and sets in a predictable and repeatable manner. Seasons change, and then duplicate the process next year.

What changes is the people. Humans are born unto the earth, live their lives and then move on to the next reality, leaving the planet to the next generation. While here, mankind can acquire wisdom – knowledge of the Creator God and knowledge of His redemptive Son Jesus the Christ. Knowing Christ, we are given the privilege of securing our eternal destination. We are given hope.

"The wise can see where they are going, but fools walk in the dark.” (Solomon)

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

Jesus/Faith!

For Friday, January 21, 2022

Mark 9:23 CEV: “Jesus replied, “Why do you say ‘if you can’? Anything is possible for someone who has faith!”

A boy was being thrown into fits by an evil spirit, and his father sought healing. Turns out that Jesus was the answer, and that healing required faith. Are you sensing a God-trend here? Jesus is the answer; healing requires faith! Knowing that God is omnipotent, faith in the Father/Son/Holy Spirit gives us hope!

As a sidebar to this incident, the disciples’ efforts to dispatch the evil spirit met with no success. Jesus said, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer,” praying to the Father, which lets us know that healing comes from heaven. It’s God’s grace, his undeserved favor, once again poured out on mankind!

Prayer should be the first thing you try, not the last resort!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

My God!

For Thursday, January 20, 2022

Mark 6:6a NLT: “Jesus was amazed at their unbelief.”

Me too! I’ve never understood how people could watch Jesus heal and perform so many other miracles and then seek out a different god. The Bible is pretty clear that Jesus is the Messiah who came to rescue us!

At Jesus’ baptism, heaven opened and voice of God boomed out, “This is my Son…” That’s good enough for me. I’m ‘good’ with Jesus. I don’t need any other god.

The Bible says, “God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” The Son of God brings hope to the people on earth!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

Faith!

For Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Mark 5:28 NLT: “The woman thought to herself, ‘If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.’”

This example of faith is a sidebar inside another mission. Jesus was actually on his way to heal Jairus’ daughter, when a woman in the crowd with a 12-year bleeding problem had the courage to simply touch the Master. Jesus was her hope. “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”

The short version is that Jesus asked who touched him, the woman confessed, to which Jesus replied, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.” This healing is a good example of grace, undeserved favor, shown to the woman who was so full of faith.

Turns out we’re all saved by grace through faith!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

Believe in Jesus!

For Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Acts 16:31 NLT: “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.”

As thick as the Bible is, Christianity is really pretty simple. Paul and Silas needed to give the Reader’s Digest version to a jailer about to kill himself. “Place your faith, hope and trust in Jesus the Christ, and you will be saved!”

I ask people, “What is your goal in following a religion?”

The obvious answer is to get to heaven, to experience the good side of the next reality. Know that God doesn’t want to lose anybody, and Jesus has gone ahead to prepare a place for you. Heaven is already on your side! Just say ‘yes!’ Share the Good News with your household!

Redemption is by grace alone, received by faith alone!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

"Very Good!"

January 17, 2022 Monday Message

Genesis 1:31a NLT: “God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!”

Sometimes it’s good to step back from a big project, to take in an overview of how it’s all coming together. At the end of the sixth creation day, God did just that.

It was a huge undertaking, creating the universe with stars and planets; creating water and land; light to end the darkness; plants, small animals and livestock; and the crowning achievement, mankind made in God’s own image, male and female he made them. God gave each of his creations the ability to produce offspring of the same kind. Call it “sustainable creation!”

Turns out it was a good plan, well thought-out. God declared the project a success, and said that everything was very good! If God was pleased with the outcome, we too should be shouting, “Very good!”

We’re filled with confident hope knowing that our creation analysis aligns with the Lord’s!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406